Romney campaign deploying Square at national convention

Aug. 24, 2012

Square is getting into politics, sort of. Mitt Romney's presidential campaign announced today it's rolling out a convention-wide deployment of Square's mobile point of sale solution.

According to an announcement from the campaign, Square-enabled phones and devices will be used at venues throughout the upcoming 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla. to give delegates and visitors a way to make donations and buy souvenirs. with a simple swipe of their credit card on a mobile device.

"We are excited to be the first presidential campaign to make serious use of Square devices at a major event like a national convention." said Zac Moffatt, digital director of the Romney for President campaign. "More importantly, we are excited to empower a national grassroots movement by providing each attendee the ability to take their Square devices back to their home state and engage with their communities."

Square will let the Romney for President campaign leverage its supporters to accept credit and debit card contributions on their mobile device on behalf of their organization, the campaign said. Additionally, collecting funds through Square ensures compliance with Federal Election Commission rules by collecting required information for donors within the app during the contribution process.

Supporters can sign up for a Square account on the Romney site to receive a free reader. They can then download the free Square Card Reader app on an Android or iOS device and begin collecting donations for deposit into the campaign's coffer.

The Obama campaign is also using Square to empower supporters to solicit donations. The president's re-election campaign began using Square earlier this year.